8.1 The Mob Assembles in Washington

8.1 The Mob Assembles in Washington

¶Trump supporters from around the country gather at the Washington Monument on the morning of January 6, 2021. Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images

¶During the early morning hours of January 6th, tens of thousands of Americans from around the country began to gather at the Ellipse and the Washington Monument. They had come to hear President Trump speak and, more importantly, for his “wild” protest.

¶Nick Quested, a documentary filmmaker, captured the mood that morning. Jacob Chansley (a.k.a. the QAnon Shaman) proclaimed “this is our 1776,” vowing “Joe Biden is never getting in.”⁷⁷ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Nick Quested Production), Video file ML_DC_20210106_Sony_FS5_Clip0065_1, at 0:04 and 1:14 (Jacob Chansley being interviewed the morning of the 6th). An unnamed woman from Georgia, who said she hosted a podcast dedicated to a new so-called Patriot Party, also proclaimed January 6th to be the new 1776. She added an ominous warning. “I’m not allowed to say what’s going to happen today because everyone’s just going to have to watch. Something’s gonna happen, one way or the other.”⁸⁸ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Nick Quested Production), Video file ML_DC_20210106_Sony_FS5_Clip0067_1, at 11:43 (an unnamed woman being interviewed the morning of the 6th).

¶The Secret Service set up magnetometers to screen for weapons and other contraband, but many rally-goers chose to avoid the screening altogether.

¶At 6:29 a.m., Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, reminded his group’s members that DC prohibited blades over “3 inches” and encouraged them to “[k]eep [the knives] low profile.”⁹⁹ Trial Transcript at 4542 and Trial Exhibit No. 6370, United States v. Rhodes et al., No. 1:22-cr-15 (D.D.C. Oct. 20, 2022). Others were thinking along the same lines. At 7:25 a.m., the National Park Service reported that a significant number of attendees ditched their bags in trees, rather than have them inspected.¹⁰¹⁰ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Secret Service Production), CTRL0000882478, p. 1 (event summary of January 6th rally). Cassidy Hutchinson told the Select Committee she heard that thousands of people refused to walk through magnetometers to enter the Ellipse because they did not want to be screened for weapons.¹¹¹¹ See, e.g., Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Cassidy Hutchinson, (Feb. 23, 2022), pp. 87–88; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Continued Interview of Cassidy Hutchinson, (June 20, 2022), pp. 12–13. According to Hutchinson, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations whose responsibilities included security-related issues, Tony Ornato, told the President that the onlookers “don’t want to come in right now. They—they have weapons that they don’t want confiscated by the Secret Service.”¹²¹² Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Continued Interview of Cassidy Hutchinson, (June 20, 2022), pp. 12–13. When he arrived at the Ellipse that morning, President Trump angrily said: “I don’t [fucking] care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. They can march to the Capitol from here.”¹³¹³ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Continued Interview of Cassidy Hutchinson, (June 20, 2022), pp. 11–12.

¶Approximately 28,000 rally-goers did pass through the magnetometers. The Secret Service confiscated a significant number of prohibited items from these people, including: 269 knives or blades, 242 cannisters of pepper spray, 18 brass knuckles, 18 tasers, 6 pieces of body armor, 3 gas masks, 30 batons or blunt instruments, and 17 miscellaneous items like scissors, needles, or screwdrivers.¹⁴¹⁴ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Secret Service Production), CTRL0000086772, (Coordinated Response to a Request for Information from the Select Committee, Nov. 18, 2021).

¶At 8:07 a.m., Secret Service countersurveillance agents reported that “members of the crowd are wearing ballistic helmets, body armor and carrying radio equipment and military grade backpacks.”¹⁵¹⁵ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Secret Service Production), CTRL0000882478 (Event summary of January 6th rally). By 9:45 a.m., the Secret Service noted people openly carrying pepper spray as they strolled the streets.¹⁶¹⁶ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Secret Service Production), CTRL0000882478 (Event summary of January 6th rally).

¶President Trump’s mob was itching for a fight. National Park Service officers arrested a man who had entered the restricted area around the Washington Monument. Immediately, about 100 people started forming a circle around the officer, “threaten[ing] law enforcement,” as the officer later recounted.¹⁷¹⁷ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Department of Interior Production), DOI_46003146_00005053, (general arrest report at the Washington Monument on the morning of January 6th). The officer retreated into the Washington Monument with the man in custody.¹⁸¹⁸ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Department of Interior Production), DOI_46003146_00005053, (general arrest report at the Washington Monument on the morning of January 6th). The crowd responded angrily, punching the Monument’s glass windows and continuing to threaten officers.¹⁹¹⁹ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Department of Interior Production), DOI_46003146_00005053, (general arrest report at the Washington Monument on the morning of January 6th). Law enforcement around the Washington Monument felt so unsafe that they “locked themselves in a security box by the mall.”²⁰²⁰ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of National Parks Service Staff, (Oct. 27–28, 2021), p. 6. Rioters nevertheless “scaled the sides of the security box and climbed on top of the structure.”²¹²¹ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of National Parks Service Staff, (Oct. 27–28, 2021), p. 6. It was a harbinger of things to come.

¶MPD monitored and responded to a stream of threats that morning. Three men in fatigues from Broward County, Florida brandished AR-15s in front of MPD officers on 14th Street and Independence Avenue.²²²² Tom Jackman, Rachel Weiner, and Spencer S. Hsu, “Evidence of Firearms in Jan. 6 Crowd Grows as Arrests and Trials Mount,” Washington Post, (July 8, 2022), available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/08/jan6-defendants-guns/. MPD advised over the radio that one individual was possibly armed with a “Glock” at Fourteenth Street and Constitution Avenue, and another was possibly armed with a “rifle” at Fifteenth Street and Constitution Avenue around 11:23 a.m.²³²³ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Secret Service Production), CTRL0000882478 (event summary of Jan 6 rally). The National Park Service detained an individual with a rifle between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m.²⁴²⁴ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (District of Columbia Production), MPD 73–78 (District of Columbia, Metropolitan Police Department, Transcript of Radio Calls, January 6, 2021); Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (District of Columbia Production), CTRL0000070375, at 3:40 (District of Columbia, Metropolitan Police Department, audio file of radio traffic from Jan. 6, 2021, from 12:00–13:00).Show full note

¶Far-right extremists brought guns into Washington or the surrounding area. Christopher Kuehne, a member of the Proud Boys, met up with friends on January 5th to discuss their plans for the following day. One person in attendance said he did not travel to Washington just to “march around” and asked, “do we have patriots here willing to take it by force?”²⁵²⁵ Statement of Offense at 4, United States v. Colon, No. 1:21-cr-160, (D.D.C. Apr. 27, 2022), ECF 143. Kuehne told them he had guns, and he was ready to go.²⁶²⁶ Statement of Offense at 4, United States v. Colon, No. 1:21-cr-160, (D.D.C. Apr. 27, 2022), ECF 143. During the attack, Kuehne helped prop open Capitol blast doors as besieged law enforcement retreated inside.²⁷²⁷ Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint and Arrest Warrant at 21–23, United States v. Kuehne, No. 1:21-cr-160, (D.D.C. Feb. 10, 2021), available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1366446/download. Guy Reffitt, a Three Percenter from Texas, attended the rally at the Ellipse, and then carried a loaded firearm onto Capitol grounds.²⁸²⁸ See Spencer S. Hsu and Tom Jackman, “First Jan. 6 Defendant Convicted at Trial Receives Longest Sentence of 7 Years,” Washington Post, (Aug. 1, 2022), available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/01/reffitt-sentence-jan6/. Jerod Thomas Bargar lost his gun—that he’d carried from the Ellipse in a ‘We the People’ holster²⁹²⁹ Statement of Facts at 3, 5, United States v. Bargar, No. 1:22-mj-169, (D.D.C. July 29, 2022), ECF No. 1-1. See Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, (District of Columbia Production, Axon Body 3 X6039BLAL, at 14:30:03 (MPD body camera footage).—while scuffling with police on the west side of the Capitol around 2:30 p.m.³⁰³⁰ Statement of Facts at 5, United States v. Bargar, No. 1:22-mj-169, (D.D.C. July 29, 2022), ECF No. 1-1. Bargar wanted to be armed, he said, when he went into the “belly of the beast.”³¹³¹ Statement of Facts at 5, United States v. Bargar, No. 1:22-mj-169, (D.D.C. July 29, 2022), ECF No. 1-1.

¶Mark Andre Mazza drove from Indiana, bringing a Taurus revolver, a .45-caliber weapon that he loaded with both shotgun and hollow-point rounds.³²³² Statement of Offense at 3, United States v. Mazza, No. 1:21-cr-736, (D.D.C. June 17, 2022), ECF No. 25. After assaulting a police officer, he lost the weapon,³³³³ Statement of Offense at 3-4, United States v. Mazza, No. 1:21-cr-736, (D.D.C. June 17, 2022), ECF No. 25; Statement of Facts at 2, United States v. Mazza, No. 1:21-cr-736, (D.D.C. Nov. 12, 2021), ECF No. 1-1. dropping it or losing it on the steps of the lower West Plaza leading to the Capitol’s West Front Terrace.³⁴³⁴ Government’s Sentencing Memorandum at 9–10, United States v. Mazza, No. 1:21-cr-736 (D.D.C. Sept. 23, 2022), ECF No. 30. The Select Committee reviewed Mazza’s social media accounts before they were taken down, finding that he shared multiple conspiracy theories, including QAnon material.³⁵³⁵ For example, on November 13, 2020, Mazza (@MarkNunzios64) tweeted at President Trump: “Can you unseal obama’s birth certificate and college transcripts?” On Facebook, Mazza shared a Q “drop” titled “The Armor of God,” a 9/11 Truther video, and multiple posts dedicated to lies about the 2020 Presidential election. Screenshots on file with the Select Committee. Mazza later indicated that he intended to target House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, telling authorities that “you’d be here for another reason” if he had found the Speaker inside the Capitol.³⁶³⁶ Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand, “Armed US Capitol Rioter Tells Investigators if He Had Found Pelosi, ‘You’d be Here for Another Reason,’” CNN, (Nov. 23, 2021), available at https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/22/politics/loaded-firearm-january-6-charged-mark-mazza/index.html.

¶Lonnie Leroy Coffman from Falkville, Alabama, parked by the Capitol building before walking nearly 2 miles to the Ellipse to hear the President speak.³⁷³⁷ Government’s Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing at 3, United States v. Coffman, No. 1:21-cr-4, (Mar. 2, 2022), ECF 28. In his car, he had stocked a handgun, a rifle, a shotgun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices, machetes, camouflage smoke devices, a bow and arrow, and 11 Mason jars filled with gasoline and styrofoam, as well as rags and a lighter (tools needed to make Molotov cocktails).³⁸³⁸ Government’s Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing at 3, United States v. Coffman, No. 1:21-cr-4, (Mar. 2, 2022), ECF 28. Police found two more handguns on Coffman when he was arrested later that day.³⁹³⁹ Government’s Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing at 4, United States v. Coffman, No. 1:21-cr-4, (Mar. 2, 2022), ECF 28.

¶Many in attendance were aware of Washington’s prohibition on carrying a concealed weapon and made plans accordingly. The Oath Keepers left their guns stowed away in their cars or across State lines for easy access should they be needed.⁴⁰⁴⁰ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Jeffrey Lawrence Morelock, (Jan. 26, 2022), p. 81. The group staged a “quick reaction force” across the river in Virginia, amassing an arsenal to come to DC “by land” or “by sea,” as Florida State-chapter lead—and defendant convicted of seditious conspiracy—Kelly Meggs said.⁴¹⁴¹ Trial Exhibit 1.S.159.524, United States v. Rhodes et al., No. 1:22-cr-15, (D.D.C Oct. 4, 2022); Trial Transcript at 10502-08, United States v. Rhodes et al., No. 1:22-cr-15 (D.D.C. Nov. 29, 2022). Oath Keeper Jason Dolan testified at the seditious conspiracy trial that the “quick reaction force [was] ready to go get our firearms in order to stop the election from being certified within Congress.”⁴²⁴² Trial Transcript at 4109, United States v. Rhodes et al., No. 1:22-cr-15, (D.D.C. Oct. 18, 2022). Dolan further testified that the Oath Keepers came to Washington, DC “to stop the certification of the election. . . . [b]y any means necessary. That’s why we brought our firearms.”⁴³⁴³ Trial Transcript at 4106-08, United States v. Rhodes et al., No. 1:22-cr-15 (D.D.C. Oct. 18, 2022).

¶Garret Miller—a January 6th defendant who traveled from Richardson, Texas—posted on Facebook that “he was bringing guns with him but ‘might just keep 1 hidden one and store the rest in Virginia’” after learning about the DC law.⁴⁴⁴⁴ Government’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Revoke Magistrate Judge’s Detention Order at 4, United States v. Miller, No. 1:21-cr-119, (D.D.C. Mar. 29, 2021), ECF No. 16. He also threatened to assassinate Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and predicted a “civil war could start.”⁴⁵⁴⁵ Statement of Facts at 2, 9, United States v. Miller, No. 1:21-cr-119 (D.D.C. Jan. 19, 2021), ECF No. 1-1.

¶Many members of the crowd decided against bringing firearms into the nation’s capital, and armed themselves in other ways. Alex Kirk Harkrider from Carthage, Texas, and his co-defendant, Ryan Nichols, left guns in a parked car just outside the district before attending the rally.⁴⁶⁴⁶ Government’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Modify Release Conditions at 3, United States v. Harkrider, No. 1:21-cr-117, (D.D.C. July 8, 2021), ECF No. 40. Harkrider still brought a tomahawk axe.⁴⁷⁴⁷ Government’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Modify Release Conditions at 3, United States v. Harkrider, No. 1:21-cr-117, (D.D.C. July 8, 2021), ECF No. 40. During the march to the Capitol, he yelled “[c]ut their fucking heads off!”⁴⁸⁴⁸ Dylan Stableford, “New Video Shows Alleged Jan. 6 Capitol Rioters Threatening Pence,” Yahoo! News (Feb. 7, 2022), available at https://news.yahoo.com/new-video-jan-6-capitol-riot-pence-threat-drag-through-streets-195249884.html. One rioter told the Select Committee he saw another carrying a “pitchfork.”⁴⁹⁴⁹ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Eric Barber, (Mar. 16, 2022), p. 41.

¶Members of the mob carried flags and turned the flagpoles into weapons. Michael Foy, from Wixom, Michigan, carried a hockey stick to the Ellipse—he draped a Trump flag over it.⁵⁰⁵⁰ Statement of Facts at 3–4, United States v. Foy, No. 1:21-cr-108 (D.D.C. Jan. 20, 2021), ECF No. 1-1. Just hours later, Foy used that hockey stick to repeatedly beat police officers at the inaugural tunnel.⁵¹⁵¹ Statement of Facts at 3–4, United States v. Foy, No. 1:21-cr-108 (D.D.C. Jan. 20, 2021), ECF No. 1-1; Government’s Opposition to Defendant’s Emergency Bond Review Motion at 5 n.3, United States v. Foy, No. 1:21-cr-108 (D.D.C. Mar. 12, 2021), ECF No. 11. Former New York City police officer Thomas Webster carried a Marine flag, which he later used to attack an officer holding the rioters back at the lower West Plaza.⁵²⁵² Statement of Facts at 2–4, United States v. Webster, No. 1:21-cr-208 (D.D.C. Feb. 19, 2021), ECF No. 1-1. See also Holmes Lybrand, “Former NYPD Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Assaulting a Police Officer on January 6,” CNN (Sept. 1, 2022), available at https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/01/politics/nypd-officer-january-6-sentencing/index.html. Another individual, Danny Hamilton, carried a flag with a sharpened tip, which he said was “for a certain person,” to which Trevor Hallgren (who had traveled with Hamilton to Washington, DC) responded: “it has begun.” Later, Hallgren commented that “[t]here’s no escape Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler. We’re coming for you. . . . Even you AOC. We’re coming to take you out. To pull you out by your hairs.” On January 5th, Hallgren took a tour of the Capitol with Representative Barry Loudermilk, during which he took pictures of hallways and staircases.⁵³⁵³ January 6th Committee, “Loudermilk Footage,” YouTube, June 5, 2022, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9RNJ1tx4zw.

¶The mob President Trump summoned to Washington, DC, on January 6th, was prepared to fight.